2017 Bolivian Festival at the Prince William County Fairgrounds / September 12, 2017 by Todd Henson

Fraternidad Alma Boliviana performing a Tinkus dance.

On September 3, 2017, I attended XXX Festival Boliviano, the 30th annual Bolivian Festival held at the Prince William County Fairgrounds in Manassas, Virginia. This was a fantastic cultural festival featuring a huge number of groups wearing amazing outfits and costumes and performing fantastic dances to music booming over speakers all around the fairgrounds track.

Tinkus de San Simon USA performing a Tinkus dance.

Younger members of Tinkus de San Simon USA looking back at the rest of their group.

Members of Tinkus de San Simon USA performing a Tinkus dance.

These events are a great opportunity to experience Bolivian culture, to see and meet wonderful people, to watch groups performing traditional Bolivian dances, and to listen to and feel the powerful rhythm of a variety of Bolivian music. There is so much color, movement and energy at these festivals, it’s an absolute joy to watch and to photograph.

Centro Cultural Pujllay Cliza USA performing a Pujllay dance.

Look at the details in the footwear of a member of Centro Cultural Pujllay Cliza USA.

Sambos Caporales VA USA performing a Caporales dance.

I love the variety of dances performed at the festival. They are each unique and have origins in Bolivian folklore. Examples of dances in this post include: Tinkus, Pujllay, Caporales, Morenada, and Wititi.

Morenada Central VA USA performing a Morenada dance.

I did not have the opportunity to try any of the food and drink this year, I was so focused on the dance events. But there are a number of food stalls serving Bolivian dishes and drinks, and I highly recommend stopping by if you attend one of these events. This year we saw very long lines for the food, so get there early.

Tinkus Llajtaymanta performing a Tinkus dance.

Tinkus Llajtaymanta performing a Tinkus dance, wearing very detailed costumes.

I hope these photos give you at least an idea of what an amazing experience it is watching these dances and the amazing people who perform them. I always leave in a better mood than I arrived. Be sure to click on any of the photos for a larger view.

Fraternidad Folklorica Bolivia performing a Caporales dance.

Photographing an event like this can be a challenge, especially for someone like me who usually photographs wildlife and nature subjects. There is so much going on, so much motion, so many people all moving together. And because the seating fills quickly we found a seat and stayed there for most of the day. So the majority of my photographs were shot from the same location.

Fundacion Socio Cultural Diablada Boliviana performing a Wititi dance.

Members of Fundacion Socio Cultural Diablada Boliviana posing after their performance.

What lens is best for this type of event? I’m most often drawn to a telephoto perspective, so I brought a 70-200mm and left everything else at home. This worked great when the groups came around the corner and headed our way. We were positioned at the end of one side of the track. When performers were closer the lens allowed me to capture individual shots, closeup portraits, and candid shots. But the telephoto lens did make it challenging to photograph them when they were right in front of me. That’s when a more wide angle lens would have been useful.

Tinkus San Simon USA performing a Tinkus dance.

Details of the boots of a member of Fraternidad Folklorica Cultural Caporales Universitarios San Simon Filial VA during their performance of a Caporales dance.

Choosing a good aperture was also a challenge. I love shallow depth of field, and this works very well with a single subject. But when photographing a group it’s sometimes nice to have more of the group in focus, so I was constantly adjusting the aperture based on the number of people in the frame. In the end, though, I found myself most often closer to wide open than to stopped down.

Morenada Bolivia USA performing a Morenada dance.

Tinkus Tiataco performing a Tinkus dance.

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Finding Blue in a Field of Sunflowers / August 8, 2017 by Todd Henson

A bee on a young sunflower against a cloudless blue sky.

One morning my brother and I found ourselves driving to McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Poolesville, Maryland. We were hoping to photograph the fields of sunflowers that are planted there each year to feed the wildlife.

But when we arrived we found the first field had yet to bloom. It was a field full of green sunflowers. A kind individual walking the field told us there was only one field even partly in bloom, and he showed us where this field was on the map. We, along with another group of photographers, got back in our cars and drove towards this field.

Facing the field of sunflowers, partly in bloom.

The morning was hot and extra humid. Just walking from the car to the field we were already soaked in sweat. Some of the sunflowers in the field had begun to bloom, but it was still mostly full of unopened green buds.

Side view of the partly blooming sunflower field.

So what do you do when you find your main subject is not how you had planned? You adjust your plans!

We hiked around the field looking for anything that caught our eyes. We did photograph a sunflower here and there, but what ended up catching our interest were other flowers growing amongst the sunflowers.

A beautiful blue morning glory flower against a green background, found in a field of sunflowers.

Along one side of the field we found morning glory vines with soft blue flowers. I tried using a very shallow depth of field to create a soft focus image, more about the green and blue colors than any detail in the flower.

Dew covered flower and bud at the back of the sunflower field.

At the back of the field we spent time photographing another flowering vine, possibly also a morning glory. I loved how dew had collected on the flower as it was still in shade; the sun had yet to rise high enough over the edge of the trees to reach this part of the field.

Green bee on a blue chicory flower with a green background.

And on the way back to the car we found a small patch of light blue chicory flowers attracting bees and other insects. Thankfully these were in shade which created a beautiful soft light just perfect for detail shots of the flowers and insects.

So if you ever head out for a shoot and don’t find exactly what you’re looking for, remember to stay flexible and keep your eyes open. There will usually be something else nearby worthy of your attention.

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More Flowers

Early Spring Virginia Bluebells

Passing Petals

My First White Trilliums - Shenandoah National Park

Stages of Growth of Pink Lady’s Slipper Orchids

It’s Going to be a Very Peri Year

Cabbage White on Thistle

Snowberry Clearwing Moth

Variations on a Theme: Mid-May Blooms

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth

Six Views of Mexican Primrose

Transient Beauty

A Flowering Shrub One May Morning

Lots of Lovely Lady’s Slippers

Spring Redbud

Morning Walk Along Pyrite Mine Road

An Example of Working the Scene at Brookside Gardens

Stages of a Lotus Flower Blooming at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens / July 25, 2017 by Todd Henson

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, in Washington, D.C., is full of beautiful blooming lotus flowers each summer. They have pond after pond of these amazing plants.

This year I tried to capture as many of the stages of the lotus flower as I could. Below are the results of my attempts, along with some examples from previous years.

Unopened Lotus Bud

The earliest stage of the lotus flower I captured is the unopened bud. In this example you can see some of the folded up petals already turning pink. It won’t be long before this bud begins to open.

Newly Opened Lotus Flower

This lotus flower hasn’t been open long.

Finally, the bud has opened. Early morning light can work so well with these flowers, causing the petals to almost glow at times. You can still see green on the lower petals, which would have been the outer layer of the bud. I love the dark pink of the center since it’s still mostly in shadow.

Blooming Lotus Flower

Now the lotus flower is blooming, almost fully open. The center is more open, less in shadow, but still a deeper pink than the outer petals. The out of focus green leaves of the lotus plant make beautiful backgrounds for the pink flowers.

Fully Open Lotus Flower

Lotus flowers can be so beautiful when fully open. This is one of my favorite photographs of a lotus flower, with a bumble bee flying in towards the center. This photo makes a beautiful print and can be purchased from my online store.

Fully open lotus flower at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.

This lotus flower is fully open. In fact, it is at the later stages of being fully open, when it begins losing its petals. Notice the shape of the yellow center, with all the darker yellow dimples on the top. The seeds will form under these dimples.

Closeup of the center of an open lotus flower.

It’s a little later in the day now and there were very few clouds in the sky, so you can see shadows forming on the petals. They lose the ethereal glow seen on the earlier flowers which were created a little earlier, and possibly when the sun was behind a cloud.

Green (Unopened) Lotus Seed Pod

Green lotus seed pod after the petals have fallen.

Now the petals of the lotus flower have fallen, leaving behind the central seed pod which has turned green. This one still has some of the hair-like portion that forms at the base of the center. I didn’t notice until later there is an insect flying just under the seed pod on the left.

This photo shows a larger seed pod, later in its development. Behind it is the blurred pink of a still blooming lotus.

Opened Lotus Seed Pod

In this stage the center section will dry up and turn brown. That’s beginning to happen in this photo, though the pod is still mostly green. Those dimples we saw on the top on the fully green seed pods have opened, revealing the seeds. The brown seed pods are sometimes used in flower arrangements.

Bonus: Lotus Flowers Dancing in the Wind

A pair of lotus flowers dancing in the wind, using a slow shutter speed to capture the motion blur.

Finally, as an added bonus, here are a pair of lotus flowers dancing in the wind. As the day progressed the wind began to pick up, making it more and more difficult to photograph the lotus blossoms without motion blur.

Lotus Blossoms Dancing in the Wind is available for order as wall art or on a variety of other products.

So instead of getting aggravated, I decided to go with the flow and intentionally slowed my shutter speed to make the most of the motion blur caused by the wind. I certainly wouldn’t consider this an award winning photograph, but it was fun creating. You never really know what you’ll get when you try these sorts of experiments.

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